Finally
by Stefan-sama
Summary: Marth spends his whole day trying to propose to Caeda, but, obviously, chaos ensues... Abel & Est are NOT a crack pairing, and Ryan is NOT an OC. If you still think so, look up Fire Emblem: Monsho no Nazo on Wikipedia. I don't own any of these characters.


**7:25 AM**

The rain beat down on the windows, not letting a single resident of the castle sleep that cold spring morning. Regardless of the rain, though, Prince Marth was risen hours before even the city gatekeepers. He walked over to the window and stared out in thought. _Today, I propose to Caeda, _he thought. _But how?_

There was the old-fashioned, romantic way. "Dear Caeda, my love for you burns brighter than even the greatest spell. Will you marry me?" No, scratch that. _Definitely too cheesy. _Caeda probably didn't like all of that mushy crap anyhow. Maybe the childhood card? "Caeda, we've known each other since we were children, and, since then, my love for you has only grown…" Nah, that was as bad as the last one. _How about just "I love you"? _No, definitely not.

As Marth made his way through the hallways and into the kitchens, the possibilities only got weirder. "Baby, I've loved you forever. Let's get hitched, hm?" "You're the best catch I've ever made. Wanna get married?" The list just grew and grew, but none of the phrasings seemed just right. Worse yet, there were the issues of a ring, the right mood, and, worst of all, people seeing. Both Marth and Caeda were fairly popular, so being alone would be a task in itself…

**9:45 AM**

**"**Good morning, your ladyship."

"Thank you, Malledus, and the same to you." replied the princess. It had only been a year since she had come to Altea, but already the castle's inhabitants seemed like family. Each servant, each knight she could call by name, including her numerous comrades in the war against Medeus and Dolhr: Julian, Lena, Jagen, Draug, Cain, Abel, Est, Lena, Gordin, Elice, Merric, and… Marth. The very reason she had bade goodbye to her father and come to Altea.

Her fiancé was everything a woman could hope for: he had money, a castle, and the title of legitimate heir to the throne. Not only that, but he was as adept with the blade as Navarre (okay, _almost_), agile as Palla or Catria, even as skilled as Jeorge. Of course, though they were nice bonuses, that wasn't why. Marth was loving, kind, caring…

"Hey, Caeda, feeling alright?" She looked up from her porridge to see one of the most recognizable faces on the continent: sky blue eyes, a long scar down his right eye and left cheek, dirty blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, and a deep, reassuring voice, plus muscles the size of Julian's ego. It was a wonder he wasn't married yet.

"Hello, Ogma. We weren't expecting you until summer."

The stoic mercenary grinned. "Hardin and Nyna paid me a bunch to take down these bandits. They weren't that tough, and since I now have time and money, I might as well spend them here." Typical Ogma. If Dolhr paid well enough, he'd be cutting down Alteans and Talians in a heartbeat. And once he had time, money, or both, he'd spend them without a care. Actually, that's probably why he was always begging for some poor, unsuspecting country's gold reserves.

**9:50 AM**

_The rain's letting up a bit, _thought Marth. The castle's residents had apparently gotten disgusted by the taste of their own breath while lying in bed, counting ceiling tiles. Despite the storm, Bord and Cord were out chopping wood, as usual. Cain and Gordin were trying to teach Ryan, the latter's younger brother, how to play some sort of gambling game. As he turned the corner, he noticed Caeda and Ogma arguing. Not really arguing, more like teasing. She said something he couldn't make out, and Ogma threw back his head and laughed hysterically. Either, they were talking about him or Ogma was going senile. Probably the latter.

Of course, Ogma leaving meant one crucial thing: _Caeda was alone._ That was one thing taken care of, but how to ask her? And what about the ring? The closest thing he had on him was the ruby on the front of his robe. _Ah, crap, why is this so hard, I'm not ready yet_—

"Good morning, Marth. Is something the matter?"

"Um… Uh…"

_Crap._

"That is, erm… Well," he scratched his head. _Double crap._ "I have something to tell you, Caeda--"

"Whatever it is, Marth, can it wait? I promised Abel that I would help with today's lunch. I'll get back to you later." And with that, she left, leaving only the fragrance of her flowing blue hair.

_Triple crap._

**10:10 AM**

As Caeda made her way to the kitchens, she thought about what Marth was trying to tell her. _Maybe it was about my lance. It is about to break, after all. Or maybe it was about the—_

"Spider!!"

A flash of green appeared suddenly out of nowhere and took an uppercut, nearly clawing her face off. The spider, however, wasn't so lucky, as an ominous spot of red and black appeared on the wall in front of her. Oh well.

"I apologize for the scare, Princess. Are you alright?" A gentle voice sounded from above.

"Fine, thanks, Abel." The green knight smiled. Actually, green was an understatement: his eyes were green, his hair was green, his armor was green, his trainees were green, even his thumb was green. You could easily mistake him for a tree if you were far away enough. Abel was also the complete opposite of Cain; gentle in place of rough, polite where the other used profanity. You'd think the two were mortal enemies instead of best friends.

"I apologize again, Princess." he said. "Est woke me up so I was able to begin on the meal early. It's already finished."

A twinge of guilt hit Caeda for so readily abandoning Marth. _Ah, well. It's not like he'll be angry at me. _Then another thought struck her. "Abel, how did you propose to Est?"

He stopped for a moment. _Did I touch a nerve? _Then he sat down, sighed, and let out a small, satisfied chuckle. "It was more of her asking me, actually. I believe her exact phrasing was 'Abel, would you mind if we got married?' Why do you want to know, anyway? Prince Marth being too shy to ask?"

Caeda's face flushed crimson. "It's not that, I just… Wanted to know."

Abel chuckled again. "Hit the nail right on the head, didn't I? Ah, to be young once more…"

She sighed. "Honestly, you're as bad as Ogma…

**12:30 PM**

Lunchtime came and went. The only ones still seated at the table were Cain and Marth: Marth because he was a slow eater, Cain because he ate so much. Though Marth's body was watching Cain shovel, swallow, repeat (with the occasional barf), his mind was elsewhere: in the corridor (and possibly the gutter), proposing to Caeda…

"Hey, Prince Marth! Sleeping Beauty! You're drooling, wake up! Honestly, how do you fall asleep while eating…?" The red knight put his palm to his forehead and shook both mockingly. You'd think he'd be fired by now.

Marth sighed. _If only he knew what I'm going through_... He took a deep breath. "Cain, have you ever fallen in love?" The words came out like the wind, letting nothing contain them, despite the speaker's wishes.

Cain raised his eyebrows, then stroked his chin thoughtfully. "In all truth, Sir? Let's see, now… We have Princess Caeda…" Marth held his breath, but quickly let it out. "…Lena, Queen Nyna, Queen Minerva, Princess Maria, Linde, Midia, Palla, Catria, Lady Elice, Norne, Athena, Nagi, Anna, and possibly Tiki and Est. In short, a lot of women—"

An arm and a flash of silver appeared in front of Cain's neck. "_What did you say about Est, hm? I haven't used my lance in a while, and I'm getting a bit rusty. Shall we test my skills, eh, dastard?" _A thin slit of blood appeared on the red knight's neck.

"Nothing, nothing, Abel. J-Just a little joke, really. No harm meant, none at all…" Cain flustered.

"Hmph," the green paladin muttered disdainfully. "Next time, cur, it shall be your head." Abel turned and slipped away. _I have a feeling he wasn't kidding_, thought Marth to himself.

"Phew," breathed Cain as he wiped the sweat off his brow. "Thank heaven I'm alive and managed to pass that off. Abel has _really _got to chill out…" The paladin finally managed to regain his natural color. "So, why'd you want to know? Dumping Caeda? For who, Nyna? You _do _realize she's already married to Hardin…"

Marth blushed furiously. "No, not that! It's just… I want to propose to her, but I just don't know how… Cain? Cain! CAIN!"

The red knight's face was matching his armor. He was making strange gurgling noises and clutching at his neck with both arms. He seemed to be choking on his 17th helping. Marth quickly reached over and delivered a sharp jab to his back. The paladin took gigantic lungfuls of air as an entire fish came flying out, landing in the bread and sending crumbs everywhere, including Cain's guffawaing face. "Bwahahaha! That's so _lame_! Bwahahaha!" The knight, who wasn't acting like one at all, was crying tears of laughter and banging on the table so hard, even Navarre could probably hear it, maybe even Jake and Anna, wherever they all were. Jagen's ears were probably falling off right about now.

"Well, excuse me, Princess!" blushed Marth, who was storming out of the room in a flurry of rage.

**4:50 PM**

"So, if the dice land with both ones face-up, that's called 'snake eyes' and is usually very bad, though that depends on the game in question. Do you get it, Ryan?" The little archer obviously didn't, but stared blankly ahead and replied yes, accompanied with a nod. Gordin sighed. "Prince Marth, would _you _be able to teach him?"

Marth raised his hands in protest. "I don't understand it any better than he does. Plus, you're his brother, he'll listen to you." _Besides_, he thought, _I have something slightly more important on my mind right now_...

A soft, high-pitched voice interrupted his thoughts. "Big brother," whispered Ryan. "I have to go potty really bad…" he said as he tugged at his brother's sleeve with one hand, the other… Down south, for lack of better phrasing.

Gordin sighed again, this time sounding a lot more resigned than last as he halfheartedly raised his finger. "Down the hall, last to the left…" he muttered dejectedly.

As Ryan half-stumbled, half-ran down the stairs, Marth began a conversation with Gordin. "Hey, Gordin, if you were madly in love with someone, ho would you propose to them?" Still watching his brother trip, he smiled. "Finally asking Caeda to marry you, hm?" Marth nodded. "Well, I don't know if my advice can be trusted, but here goes nothing. Hm… I'd wait until you were alone, for one thing." _Already got that covered_, thought Marth. "Then, maybe something like 'Caeda, I love you more than life itself. Will you marry me?" Marth nodded. _Not bad, not bad_. "Then, as far as anything else goes, I'd kneel and present her with a ring in front of the sunset, preferably an emerald, girls love those. You should probabl sweet-talk her first in order to get the mood right, too. How's that?"

Marth grinned. "Best advice I've heard all day. Thanks a lot, Gordin. I have to go before the sun sets, bye! And with that, he sprinted off, his biorhythm off the charts.

Gordin smiled to himself for a couple of minutes. Then, seeing his brother trot back towards the corridor, he promptly swiveled around in his chair. "Wait, Marth, come back! Don't leave me here!"

**5:20 PM**

Marth peeked around the courtyard entrance. The rain had just about stopped, exposing the glowing beauty of the sunset. The only thing more beautiful in existence was right underneath it, smelling the flowers. _Perfect. Not another soul in sight_, the prince thought. Just as Marth was about to make his entrance, two loud voices arose, forcing Marth to do a barrel roll into the safety of the oak trees.

"Nothing prettier than the sunset after a storm! Ain't that right, Merric?" The younger mage laughed and expressed his agreement, albeit also loudly, as they entered the courtyard garden.

_Crap. Now what?_ As he was on the edge of despair, he noticed Gordin sitting in an upper window, who winked at the Prince, cupped his hands around his mouth, and

shouted at the top of his lungs. "Hey, Ogma! Merric! Did you hear the news? The armory is having a 75%-off sale!"

The two glanced at each other for a second then zoomed off, pushing and shoving to get through the door. What with all the disturbances today, you'd think Jagen would be dead of heart failure by now. _Mental note: buy Gordin a custard or two later_, thought Marth as he finally walked into the central garden.

The squelching of his boots in the mud made Caeda notice him slightly earlier than he would've liked her to. "Hello, Marth. I'm sorry that I had to leave you earlier so suddenly. What was it you wanted to ask me?"

_Crap, I'm not ready for this_, he thought._ Ah, well. Might as well do it now or never. _He cleared his throat. "Caeda, I've loved you for a long time, and, well…" He got down on one knee and reached for his pocket. But a dreadful thought awaited him- _Crap!_ he yelled mentally. _I forgot to get a ring!_

Desperately, he racked his brains for an in-reach alternative. _Of course! The Fire Emblem!_ But the fear returned as quickly as it had left._ Double crap! I gave that back to Nyna! Please, let me die now, please, this can't be happening…_ Just as he was about to take out Falchion and impale himself, logic took over. They were in a garden, of course. He reached over and snapped a rose off of the nearest bush.

"Caeda, I love you more than life itself. Will you marry me?"

She was crying as happily as he was. "Yes, Marth. Yes."

**5:30 PM**

Unbeknownst to either of the two, Gordin was still watching from his window, along with Cain and Abel.

Cain grinned, folding his hands against his lips while resting his elbows on the table thoughtfully. "Judging from how they're kissing, I wonder how fast they'll have kids…"

Abel contorted his face. "Ugh, Cain, that's disgusting! You're a Royal Knight, act like one!"

"Shaddap! It's not like you haven't tried it with Est!"

"Silence, wretch! I'm going to rip your face clean off!"

While the two paladins argued loudly in the background, Gordin smiled to himself.

_Finally._

And the last drop of rain fell.


End file.
